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The continuing balmy weather resulted in thick, heavy snow that was left unsalted and wreaked havoc on waxing. Cologna’s technicians and the Swedes clearly got it right, while Canada did not, with the top Canuck, Devon Kershaw (CAN), in 35th, and Harvey abandoning to save energy for the Team Sprint on February 19.
“Poltoranin caught me in the stadium and dropped me instantly on the downhill by 15 seconds. So then I was, I don’t know… I kept pushing. Jespersen caught me on the downhill before the big uphill. I stayed with him the whole way. I’m feeling really good and then the little downhill before the last sprint uphill, he put 5-10 meters on me. Then I saw Justin [Wadsworth]. Like look I’m feeling good but I’m losing so much time on the downhills so I’m just going to stop as there is no point,” explained a frustrated Harvey after the event.
Noah Hoffman (USA) was the top North American in 31st, while rookie Erik Bjornsen (USA) logged a solid ski in 38th. Canada’s Ivan Babikov (CAN) was right behind in 39th, followed by USA’s Brian Gregg (USA) in 47th, Kris Freeman (USA) 57th, and Graeme Killick (CAN) 65th.
“It was just a really tough course and obviously there are some guys that skied really fast,” said Hoffman after his 31st-place ski. “I had really great opportunities for great rides. I had (Eldar) Roenning, (Johan) Olsson and (Dario) Cologna all ski through me and I couldn’t stay with any of them unfortunately. We definitely try to develop classic techniques that work in all conditions, and we see these warm conditions fairly often on the World Cup. I think it’s coming along even though the results aren’t showing it, and I’m looking forward to more opportunities,” said the Hoff.
More Quotes:
Ivan Babikov
“One of the hardest races, but I felt actually not too bad. Just mixed reactions to the skis I guess a little bit. Like on the top look here my skis were competitive, really good and I kicked really good. But down below it was so wet and I had slippery skis – not as fast as other guys. So it was hard to see that but that’s what it is. You have to use what you have at the moment and just ski with it and try to finish and do the best you can.”
“I was pretty happy with my classic race, with the exception of that last turn. I didn’t go in the right lanel. I went to the lap lane. I’m really frustrated by that, but other than that it was a really good race. I definitely was out of it and wasn’t thinking quite straight there. I talked to the girls and they said that the whole course kind of catches up with you. So I tried to push pretty hard on the flats and relax a little bit more on the climbs to try to keep my rhythm so I wasn’t so blown when I got to the flat on top.”
Kris Freeman
“It was one of the hardest course I think I’ve ever raced on. It was really slow and had tons of elevation with a three-minute sustained climb. It’s hard. It’s the Olympics, it’s the way it should be. I wish my fitness had come around for today. I was racing really cautiously because I go right over the edge so easily. I’m not hapy with the result but I put everything I had out there.”
Results here.
Results detail here.
